Flyte (book)
Flyte is the second book in the Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage. The cover is modelled after the in-story book: How to Survive Dragon Fostering: A Practykal Guide with the Flyte Charm lying on top. The book was released in March 2006. Plot In the second book we see Septimus as the apprentice to Marcia. The book begins with Simon Heap gathering the bones of Dom Daniel and Dom Daniel accepting him as apprentice. Here, Marcia is accompanied by a shadow which gets darker throughout the book. Septimus is bitten by a spider and while he is reading about the Flyte charm. Elsewhere, Simon chants a spell and creates Sleuth, a tracker ball. Later Simon infiltrates the castle and kidnaps Jenna, Septimus tries to stop him but is unsuccessful, he tries to trace Jenna to the Laboratory, Simon's workhouse. He is assisted in his search by his friend Beetle and Wolf Boy whom he discovers to be Boy 409, Ex-army Best friend. The group comes across Benjamin Heap in the forest and is saved from Wolverines. Jenna runs away from Simon's observatory in The Badlands and makes her way towards The Port. Eventually Septimus is able to rescue Jenna with Nicko's help from the Port but they are tracked by Sleuth, Simon's tracking ball. At the Port, Jenna constantly sees a dark stranger following her from a dark horse, who is later revealed to be Milo Banda, Jenna's long lost father. They make their way to the Marram Marshes where they take the Dragon-Boat whom Jenna was supposed to meet ( as all Queens need to each year) from Aunt Zelda's cottage and fly her to the Castle. But they meet Simon, flying in the sky who tries to take away Jenna by using his new weapon Thunderflash, but is unsuccessful and retreats taking Merrin Meredith with him. Simon drops a huge Thunder flash on the Dragon-Boat and it drops over Jannit Maarten's Boatyard. Septimus, Jenna and Aunt Zelda are able to revive her through the Transubstantiate Triplet spell. Septimus is also in search of the long lost Flyte charm. He finds the separated charm and unites it along with the small arrow Flyte charm that Marcia had given him. Eventually he is able to fly and even warns Simon never to harm Jenna again. Also, the rock that Jenna gave him at Aunt Zelda's cottage turns out to be the egg of a dragon and eventually it hatches. Septimus absolutely adores the dragon and names him Spit Fyre. The dragon for some strange reason identifies Marcia as his mummy, much to Marcia's annoyance. While all this is happening, Marcia is struggling at the castle to make a Shadow Safe which is a very complicated instrument that is used to trap a lingering shadow, but she finds that there are Dom Daniels Bones already in the Shadow Safe and as accidentally Beetle and Jenna fix them up, the Ghost of Dom Daniel rises trying to murder Marcia. Septimus also rescues Marcia by identifying the shadow that has been trailing her. He also finds out that the ShadowSafe Marcia is developing contains, unbeknownst to her, the bones of destroyed Necromancer DomDaniel, which, once reassembled, try to kill Marcia. With Septimus's help, Marcia is able to Identify him and he is once again destroyed. Simon Heap realizing his mistake retreats back to his Laboratory. Characters The Heaps *Grandpa Benji: Silas's father, Grandpa Benji lives in the Forest. He was a shape shifter, and turned himself into a tree. He saved Nicko and Septimus when they were about to be eaten by some ravenous wolverines. *Aunt Zelda: A White Witch and current Keeper of the Dragon Boat. *Silas Heap: The Father of the family. He found Jenna in the snow the day Septimus was born. Although Silas was a seventh son, he didn't possess much talent, and is merely a humble Ordinary Wizard. *Sarah Heap: The mother of the family. Sarah is quite emotional, and insists on constantly hugging Simon when he gets back. On the other hand, she could be quite formidable when she or her family is insulted or threatened in any way, or just to get what she believes in. She used to study with Galen, the Physik woman, about herbs, and that's where she met Silas. *Simon Heap: Simon seems to hate his youngest brother, Septimus, while the others adore him. He accuses him of stealing his Apprenticeship to the ExtraOrdinary Wizard. Simon offered to Restore DomDaniel, the old ExtraOrdinary Wizard, if he took him on as an Apprentice. He was quite nasty to his brothers and adoptive sister. He kidnapped Jenna so he could dispose of her for DomDaniel. However in Queste, he seems not to be a Darke Wizard any more and doesn't want to be the extraordinary wizard either. *Sam Heap: Lives in the Forest with his brothers. He is the oldest, besides Simon. Sam loves to fish. *Edd Heap: He and Erik are twins. They like to play practical jokes. *Erik Heap: Edd's twin. *Jo-Jo Heap: Has a crush on Marissa, a Wendron Witch. *Nicko Heap: Nicko is good with boats and fixing things. He was positively shocked when Simon stole his newly-acquired canoe and rode off in it. He was one of the few that believed Septimus when told that Simon had kidnapped Jenna. *Septimus Heap: The protagonist of the series. Originally Boy 412 of the Young Army. The seventh son of a seventh son. He is Marcia's Apprentice, and he trusts Marcia more than anyone else. He and Jenna have a close relationship. *Jenna Heap: She is the Princess or the "Queenling". She and Septimus are exactly the same age, but Jenna was bigger and stronger. She is not a true Heap and was only secretly adopted by the Heaps after her mother, the Queen, was assassinated. She has a Shield Bug from the previous book. Other characters *Marcia Overstrand: The current ExtraOrdinary Wizard. An extremely powerful wizard, Marcia is known for her short tempers and ambition. She has Septimus as her apprentice. *Alther Mella: The ex-ExtraOrdinary Wizard whose ghost now helps Septimus to look for Jenna and also gives advice to Marcia. *'Beetle: Septimus' best friend. He works at the Manusriptorium as Front Desk Clerk.' *'DomDaniel: Ex-ExtraOrdinary wizard and Necromancer. DomDaniel was destroyed by Marcia in Magyk, but his bones were placed in Marcia's ShadowSafe to make a Placement on her.' *'Billy Pot: The Palace gardener who is also .' *Ellis Crackle: Once an apprentice to DomDaniel. DomDaniel Reduced him into a Shadow. *Hugh Fox: The Chief Hermetic Scribe at Manuscriptorium. He has had secret dealings with Simon Heap. He is the one who gave Simon the half of the Flyte with Simon Heap, and often fights with her parents about it, who disapprove of all the Heaps, especially Simon. *Merrin Meredith: He thought he was Septimus Heap. He was once an apprentice to and then later Consumed by Necromancer DomDaniel. But Aunt Zelda saved him from being gone forever. He was apprenticed to Simon Heap near the end of the book. *Morwenna Mould: Current Witch Mother of the Wendron Witch Forest Coven. *Nurse Meredith: The landlady of the Doll House after Florrie Bundy, the old landlady, drowned in a drain after having a Shrink Spell done on her by Linda, one of the witches in the Port Witch Coven. She was the Matron Midwife who snatched Septimus Heap from Sarah for DomDanielCharm. *Jannit Marten: Owner of the best boatyard at the Castle. The Dragon Boat lands in her boatyard, and continues living there in future books. *Lucy Gringe: She is in love with Simon Heap. *Professor Weasal Van Klampff: The professor in charge of constructing the Shadow Safe. *Sleuth: The faithful servant to Simon Heap. He used to be a bald, old tennis ball in a dumpster, but then Simon dug him out and enchanted him. *Stanley: Once a message rat, he is now employed in the Secret Rat Service. He is sent to find Jenna when she is kidnapped. *Una Brakket: Weasal Van Klampff's grumpy housekeeper. Helps Simon with the Placement. *Spit Fyre: A young green dragon that hatches from a green rock that Jenna, the Queenling, had given Septimus. Spit Fyre is able to breathe Fyre and he has had his FirstFlyte with Septimus and Jenna, the Navigator. Spit Fyre seems to be a fun loving and very clumsy dragon. He loves to eat. *The Dragon Boat: A half-dragon, half-boat. Many years ago, the dragon's master, Hotep-Ra, was fleeing from people who wanted to dispose of him. The dragon made the once in a lifetime Transformation into a boat to save her master. She is permanently a boat. Jenna must visit her once a year on Mid-Summer's Day, the time when the dragon's magic is the strongest. *Watchers: A group of ex-Young Army boys in charge of watching the Professor's front door to see who comes and goes. They are always rude to Septimus and call him names on Marcia's orders. Critical reception The book received positive reviews from critics and fans galore. Kathy Boswell of The Best Reviews.com praised the book saying "Book Two of the Septimus Heap series lives up to all of my expectations. As I predicted with Book One, I believe this series has the ability to be as popular as the Harry Potter series." de:Flyte Category:Septimus Heap series